Why does everyone think there is algorithm for made popular section?
This may seem provocative, but does anyone really believe there is algorithm for what's made popular? Come on, there isn't some special type algorithm. If there was one, give it to a top secret government program, because it must be artificial intelligence. Seriously, look at what deals go popular, and you will see that it can't be an algorithm. The algorithm is a human picking what deals go popular. Machine learning would not get you even close to those picks.
by
markmad23
asked 10 months ago
Ha -- do you know what sort of man-hours it would take to decide whether or not something goes popular?
Besides, they have a stats tracker for each user, and give ranks based on that. All of the info is there, why not let it work for them too? It's probably not THAT complex, but I know that it takes comments, votes, duration posted and tags into consideration when considering an item for the popular page.
That would be exactly why some items go with only 10 votes and others have to get 20 (like my Spam deal last night).
If you look at my question earlier here: http://deals.woot.com/questions/details/d84ca3e5-c1dc-40d8-bb2e-ef206daa372b/if-a-question-is-tagged-meta-or-chat-what-are-the-requirements-to-make-it-popula#3
And a staff's comment here: http://deals.woot.com/questions/comment/50c8360e-797a-4582-a512-92534ac72732
I think it hints towards a tweak-able system that they use for different items, questions, etc. (I am sure there are more questions that back this up but I'm about to leave and didn't want to search.)
Besides look at what they did with the words crab and sexy. Those words/tags will make it where no matter the votes it will never go popular.(There may be other words too.)
#lingerie is another tag that will guarantee a deal won't go popular, I believe #free is way up there but those deals tend to get a ton of votes and still sometimes go Popular.
To see the algorithm in action go to the Fresh tab and sort by number of votes. You will see plenty of deals with way more votes that what's on the Popular tab.
@capguncowboy: Actually, it really isn't that hard. If you checkout the deals in this list, these are the deals that typically go popular, the top fresh deals. See the link below:
http://deals.woot.com/deals/fresh/mostvotes
That doesn't require many man hours to pick the top deals from that list, which seems to be the case. Moreover, it seems that amazon, woots parent company, is picked more often, and I guess that makes sense.
@ohcheri: I agree, free & 0.00 are all attributes that harm any prospect of going popular,in my opinion. But, that doesn't necessarily mean there is automated process. It could be a moderator checking the tag or the price field of deal and choosing not to make a deal popular on that bases. Doesn't necessarily mean automated algorithm.
@markmad23: That's because probably 1/3 of all the deals posted on this site are from Amazon -- I'm sure it has nothing to do with them being the parent company. In fact, Woot doesn't even do sponsored deals for Amazon.
@shawnmiller @josefresno @faughtey
Can one of you please answer this question so he'll stop with his conspiracy theories.
@capguncowboy: conspiracy theory, ha ha, really?. Honestly, I don't care that much, seriously...
Time to close ranks. Wooters assemble! Ha ha, man you Wooters are funny breed of people.
@markmad23: I can't imagine it would be that difficult to give certain tags "weight" vs. pay a live person to review every single deal posted. I'm no computer programmer but it doesn't seem like a very sophisticated program to design.
@ohcheri: I agree, but I don't believe that's all they're doing.
I love how Wooters start to panic when you talk about the technical nature of deals.woot. It's just hilarious!
@markmad23: I'm not seeing any panic, just incredulity that the algorithm isn't glaringly obvious to everyone.
@markmad23: I see no panic, just a correct estimation of your ideas. Let it go.
Oh, and no one ever claimed there was any AI in any of this. There isn't. Honestly, writing code to weight things, and provide value to votes that are quickly added being higher than votes that accumulate more slowly over time (as one example) is reasonably easy, and FAR less expensive than paying people to look at the bazillions of deals posted, with or without votes, and push some up, and others not.
This isn't even a conspiracy theory. It's just dumb (don't you DARE moderate that, you crazy staff people, because it IS dumb).
just gotta say I love that this is disputed.
@snapster: I don't believe you!
All's I'm sayin' is: Skynet. And hamsters.
@gatzby: Ever since I started hanging out here, I keep having the feeling that someone's watching me. Also, my grandaughter's Zhu Zhu pets keep following me around the house.
I think the algorithm is that EVERY question goes popular from what I've noticed, or anything with more than 1 vote
i agree with markmad, see my previous post where i saw an ohcheri post get placed in popular, then get taken away and replaced with another "more deserving" deal. deserving as in had more time in fresh but had about the same votes and comments, off by a bit
that was a person! unless it was an AWS sync issue between servers but i'm leaning toward a mod who marked the wrong one and fixed it real quick.
i agree it's a human, with computer assistance to give the humans tips
@loubriccant: Damnit! They promised us ninja hamsters!
I would have sworn #science! wasn't there before...especially given that it won't go in here with the bang.
I like it.
@w00tgurl: I've also seen that happen...
Our special algorithm involves a large tank, colored balls and a bunch of manatees.
It's not an AI, it's @wootbot! ...in a large tank with colored balls and manatees. With calculators... the manatees just love math.
The crabs... not so much. They're too buys checking out the lingerie deals.
because computers don't tend to work without them
Stats
- Asked
- 10 months ago
- Asked By
- markmad23
- Answered
- 26 times
- Viewed
- 933 times
- Voted Against
- 3 times
- Voted For
- 12 times
26 Answers answer
Sort By: